We have failed orang asli

A CANDIDATE’S statement in the Cameron Highlands by-election that the Malay community would not even buy kuih from the orang asli, let alone vote for an orang asli candidate is tactless and distasteful, and shows how our society has unequivocally failed them.

That a significant percentage of mainstream society would not vote for an orang asli candidate is not a sign that the candidate is unqualified or incapable, but that we as a society have systemically marginalised the orang asli.